SunPower Readies 24%-Efficient Solar Cell

San Jose-based SunPower Corp. has a great thing going on right now. They’re constantly pushing the standard and recently announced the commercial production of the company’s third-generation Maxeon solar cell that delivers a sunlight to electricity conversion efficiency of up to 24%.

The black contact solar cell is 160 mm and produces more energy per square meter than a conventional crystalline solar cell.

The new Maxeon cell is being integrated into select SunPower panels that deliver efficiencies in excess of 20% with up to 128 solar cells per panel. These will be availability in limited quantities in 2012.

Pricing information is unavailable except through local SunPower dealers.